Sensex at 9k, bulls on Cloud 9

Numerologists drool over the number of 9s seen in Friday’s bull-run. Sensex’s 9,000-plus close comes on December 9, nine trading sessions after crossing 9,000 mark intra-day.

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex finally hit Cloud Nine – and how. On a day of bull frenzy, the index closed above the 9,000 mark for the first time.

Numerologists are drooling over the number of 9’s seen in Friday’s bull-run. The Sensex’s 9,000-plus close comes on December 9, just nine trading sessions after first crossing the 9,000 mark intra-day. December is also the ninth month of the financial year. And foreign institutional investors have poured just under $9 billion in Indian stocks so far.

Says Niraj Mancchanda, numerologist: “Nine is considered a sacred number and most auspicious. Whenever a number of 9’s get together it heightens the effect. Nine is also the number of Mars, the warrior planet, and nobody can stand before it. This will prove beneficial to the market. Mercury is in retrograde and within a few days will get back to normal. This will help the market improve further.”

According to Mancchanda, the market will touch 9,200 by the end of January. It will fall a maximum of 500 points after that, if at all, and zoom to 11,000 by the end of 2006.

Says Sanjay B Jumaani, numerologist: “This is a Sagittarius period and is ruled by Jupiter, the biggest planet, the planet of wealth. This was further accentuated by an energetic Mars.”

But Jumaani is not sure the good times will last: “I expect the markets to fall in 2006 as that adds up to 8, the number of Saturn, a disruptive planet.”

Tarot card reader Neelam Shivdasani believes the market may have mixed fortunes in the year ahead: “The influence of number 9 means a lot of challenges. The warrior in you has to come out and move forward. But you have to be ready to take the retreats also, as it is not smooth sailing.”

Observes Keshubhai Sheth, a small investor: “Most Indians who believe in astrology believe that the number 9 is very important. Some top fund managers talk to astrologers before taking investment decisions.”

The Sensex hit an intra-day high of 9,080.76 before closing at 9,067.28, up 160.97 points (1.81 per cent) from its previous close. Net FII inflows stood at a record $8.904 billion, not including Friday’s inflows. Importantly, investor wealth hit a new high of Rs24 trillion.